In most constructions, ceilings and walls are made of drywall. Drywall is a plaster-like substance pressed between two sheets of thick paper. Drywall is attached to the ceiling or wall using nails and screws. The seams between the drywall sheets and the nails or screws are covered using a drywall compound or spackle with the help of taping knives and spackling knives as well as trowels. Any projecting screws are driven in using screwdrivers. Finally the drywall is finished with taping several layers of the joint compound using a trowel or knives.
Drywall compound is similar to plaster and is also referred to as joint compound or mud, and this mud is held on a hawk or within a pan. Drywall and masonry hawks and pans known in the prior art usually consist of a metallic plate and a handle protruding downwardly from the center to provide a handle to hold the hawk. A cushion ring is placed between the handle and bottom surface of the metallic plate for the comfort of the worker's hand and to reduce callous formation. Materials such as drywall compound or mortar are placed on top surface of the plate while the worker applies the material to a wall or other types of surfaces using various tools as discussed above.
While working on drywall or masonry applications, a number of tools are used on a regular basis, including taping and spackling knives, as well as screwdrivers to drive protruding tools back in. Workers have to handle a number of tools keeping them in different places such as their pockets, work belts, benches and the floor, and the time spent switching between tools is considerable. Further, when on a scaffold or other elevated location, dropping a tool results in the worker having to descend and retrieve the tool before ascending to continue work. Further, the workers end up misplacing or losing tools, when the tools are located in several different places. Safety is a factor as well, as keeping in pockets are not good for the worker's safety in the case of a fall.
Therefore there is a requirement for an improved compound holding device such as a hawk and pan which solves the above mentioned problems.